


Biting Down

by buoyantsaturn



Series: Prompts [8]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Headcanon prompt, M/M, Siren Will, attempted drowning, violinist nico
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-12 23:39:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14737976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: He was pouting up at Nico, those big blue eyes fluttering, and Nico noticed that his eyes appeared to be glowing. After neither of them spoke for a significant amount of time, Nico said carefully, “Who are you?”“I’m Will,” the blond answered, still pouting. “Why’d you stop the music?”its a fic of this headcanon list!!





	Biting Down

**Author's Note:**

> heres my first ever thing for mermay so i hope you like it

Nico didn’t need such a big house all to himself - a house with six bedrooms and two kitchens and a huge balcony overlooking the ocean - but it had fallen under his price limit. He’d gotten it for a fraction of what it was worth because of its history: disappearances of the last three owners and a suicide before that. The house had been collecting dust for almost a decade by the time Nico had finally moved in.

He’d bought the place with the hopes that he would be struck with sudden inspiration, but all he’d done a month after moving in was wander through the maze of unpacked boxes and mindlessly play his violin.

One of the things that Nico liked best about the house was the lack of neighbors, which is why he was so confused when he heard a soft melody coming from somewhere outside, in between the strokes of his bow. He set down his instrument and crossed the wide open living room, sliding open the glass door to step out onto the balcony. For a second, the music was echoing all around him, and then it stopped completely. He waited, hoping it might start up again, but after a few moments of hearing nothing but the distant crash of waves on the shore, Nico turned around and went back inside.

It was another week before Nico heard that music again - he wasn’t sure if it was exactly the same, but it was just as alluring as it was the first time he’d heard it. This time, however, he didn’t run straight for the balcony, and instead scrambled for some paper and a pencil, trying his best to scribble down the notes but he just couldn’t write fast enough and the sound was too muffled by the walls for him to be sure he was hearing it right. He dropped the pencil, reaching instead for his violin to try to play along with the faint melody he was hearing, but the second his bow touched the strings, the melody stopped.

He tried to transcribe the tune as well as he could remember it, but the sound faded with every passing second, and he barely managed to make any further progress. He played it back to himself, but it was all wrong - not a single note seemed to match. Maybe it was a song that just couldn’t be played on the violin, but Nico could play  _ anything. _ He  _ would _ figure out that melody, even if it  _ killed him. _

The next day, he went out onto the balcony with his violin and the most accurate sheet music he’d managed, prepared to stand out there for as long as it took before he had it perfected. He figured that if he started playing, as long as it was close enough to the original piece, then whoever had been playing it all this time would join him.

He stood there for hours, playing the same nonsense over and over again, never getting any closer to the original melody. When he finally felt like he might collapse from hunger, he looked up from the sheet music and set down his violin. He spotted an old wooden dock on the beach, and decided that he would search for inspiration there, instead. After lunch, of course.

So Nico made himself a sandwich and gave himself a break before he went back outside, this time down to the beach. He walked down to the end of the dock with his violin and took a moment to take off his shoes and socks and roll up his pant legs before sitting down at the edge of the dock and dipping his feet into the water.

He tucked his violin under his chin and shut his eyes as he started to play, hoping to feel out the melody rather than force it onto paper. He kicked his feet back and forth gently, causing a few light splashes, and after a moment he heard what sounded like a fish jumping out of the water a few yards away. Another moment after that, something scaly brushed against the bottom of one of Nico’s feet, and he jumped at the feeling. He pulled his feet out of the water, scooting back from the edge and twisting around to set his violin behind him. When Nico turned back around, there was suddenly a blond boy with vibrant blue eyes propping himself up on the edge of the dock, his chin resting on his crossed arms.

He was pouting up at Nico, those big blue eyes fluttering, and Nico noticed that his eyes appeared to be glowing. After neither of them spoke for a significant amount of time, Nico said carefully, “Who are you?”

“I’m Will,” the blond answered, still pouting. “Why’d you stop the music?” Will closed his eyes and started to hum, the melody sounding exactly like the one Nico had been hearing for so long.

Nico felt himself being drawn in by the song. He shifted so that he was sitting back on his heels and leaned in closer to Will. “You’re the one that keeps playing that song! Or, singing. It’s beautiful, you have to give me the sheet music for it,” Nico rambled, and when Will’s pout turned to a look of confusion, he continued, “I need to learn how to play it!”

Will seemed to perk up a bit. “You really like it?”

Nico felt...tired, suddenly, like the exhaustion of playing all day was finally catching up to him - or maybe the bright blue of Will’s eyes was just that soothing that he felt like diving right into the water with him. “Yeah, it’s...really pretty.”

Will smirked, stretching himself up closer to Nico, getting a good look at the violinist before saying, “I like you. You’re much prettier than all of the others had been.”

Nico’s reaction was sluggish, like his brain was processing Will’s words at half speed. He had a brief second to say, “Huh?” before Will shot out of the water, grinning at him with teeth as sharp as razor blades, grabbing Nico’s face with his webbed fingers and pulling him into a kiss. Nico couldn’t even think to try and remove himself from Will’s grasp before he was pulled into the water with him.

The shock of cold went straight to Nico’s head, clearing his mind instantly and allowing his reflexes to kick in. They were sinking fast, and Nico needed to be quick about his escape before he drowned, so he forced his legs in between them and kicked Will as hard as he could in the stomach to get them to separate. As a way to boost himself up toward the surface, Nico stepped on Will’s face, pushing Will down as he forced himself upward. 

He chanced looking downward to see whether Will was coming after him, but what he saw would have been breathtaking - if he’d had any breath to spare. He saw Will, blond hair green in the light; smooth, tan skin blending down his abdomen into glittering blue scales; a tail that had to be at least six feet long all on its own.

Nico broke the surface with a gasp, scrambling up onto the dock and getting as far away from the edges as possible. Will’s head popped up at the end of the dock once more, his pout returned at full force. “That wasn’t very nice of you,” Will said grumpily.

“You’re a mermaid,” Nico spat out. “Mer _ man. _ Or, or some kind of siren, or something.”

Will rolled his eyes, propping his chin on his folded arms once more. “Not  _ some kind _ of siren, I  _ am _ a siren.”

“You were trying to kill me,” Nico said.

“Well, don’t say it like  _ that,” _ Will complained. “That’s so harsh. All I wanted to do was drown you and tear you apart and then eat you. Killing you makes it sound so much  _ worse.” _

“You’re a siren,” Nico repeated. “You’re  _ actually _ a siren.”

“Yeah, we covered that already.”

“Sirens are good with music,” Nico reasoned, “which means that  _ you _ are good with music.”

“Well, it was  _ my _ song that lured you down here,” Will seemed to brag. “Just like all those other people before you. Except you really took your time, didn’t you? Nobody’s ever lasted a month before.”

“Other people?” Nico asked. “What do you mean, other people? Like, the people that used to live here?  _ You _ killed them?”

“Yeah, it’s not like people just  _ disappear, _ somebody’s gotta eat them,” Will said, like it was obvious.

“We’re getting off topic,” Nico said, though his voice was starting to shake. Was he really about to propose something to a  _ siren? _ “You have to help me write music. I need new songs, and you know exactly the kinds of melodies that will get people to listen. You have to be my music writing partner.”

Will frowned. “Why should I help you? You didn’t even let me eat you.”

“If you help me write my music, then--” he didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t let Will  _ eat him. _ “--I’ll buy you whatever you want to eat. Anything except for people.”

Will looked disappointed by that last addition, but eventually smiled up at Nico with his very pointy teeth. He reached out a hand - a hand with webbed fingers and claw-like fingernails - and said, “You’ve got a deal.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! hmu on tumblr @buoyantsaturn


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